Youths go door-to-door for ambulance fee, last rites of neighbours died in LPG cylinder blast

Some youths at Kanut village under Bolangir’s Belapada police limits were seen resorting to door-to-door fund raising in their village to collect funds for a noble cause.

They were reportedly raising funds to bring back the bodies of their neighbours from Rourkela Hospital who died in an LPG cylinder blast.

As per reports, a cylinder blast at Ada Bariha’s home at Kanut village on February 10 resulted in serious injury to three of the same family. They were admitted to a hospital in Rourkela for treatment where one person died on February 12 and the other two died yesterday.

The deceased include a woman and her aunt. However, after the death of the woman, her 19-year-old grieving son ended his life in his village too.

While their last rites are scheduled to be held in their village at Kanut, the family does not have any money to bring the bodies to Balapada from Rourkela.

“Three persons of that family have already died. Three others are battling for their lives. So we decided to collect some money from the villagers and donate it to them,” the neighbour of the deceased Jyoti Panda.

The villagers had even resorted to blockade of Bolangir-Kantabanji road demanding compensation for the family from the government.

Asked about the fundraising drive, Belpada Tehsildar Banabihari Harpal said, “They demanded to bring the bodies back from Rourkela as soon as possible. I assured them to pay the ambulance rent from the Red Cross fund as soon as they arrived at Belpada. The government will also provide the family assistance of Rs 4 lakh once we get the post-mortem and FIR copies.”

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old youth of the family allegedly died by suicide after the tragic deaths of four members in the blast.